POLISH FOLK MUSIC - Mazurka (Mazury)

Label: Polskie Nagrania - Muza (1994)
Catalogue No: PNCD 274
Format: CD

Tracks:

1. Na Tysiaclecie Polski (On the Millennium of Poland)
2. Radosny poranek (Happy Morning)
3. Brawura (Recklessness)
4. Pachnacy kwiat (Fragrant flower)
5. Dla zniwiarzy (For Reapers)
6. Kwiaty i slonce (Flowers and sun)
7. Nad czysta woda (Over pure water)
8. Slomiane strachy (Straw fears)
9. Bielanski mazur (Bielanski mazurka)
10. Nie masz tanca nad mazura (There is no dance like mazurka)
11. Bialy mazur (White mazurka)
12. Dwie kumy (Two godmothers)
13. Piastowski mazur (Piat mazurka)
14. Nie masz tanca nad mazura (There is no dance like mazurka) Alternate version
15. Matulu kochana (Mother my darling)
16. Podkóweczki, dajcie ognia (Podkuweczki, let the fire)
17. Kiej kapela gra mazura (Hey band, play mazurka)
18. Tego mi grajta (Play me that)
19. Na bok z drogi (On the side of the road)
20. Siwy konik (Gray horse)
21. Spod Zamoscia (From Zamosc)
22. Kuba Jurek
23. Mazur 'Ach' (Mazurka 'Ah')
24. Swir, swir za kominem (Behind the chimney)

Performed by:

Tracks 1,13-17: Feliks Dzierzanowski's Polish Folk Band
Tracks 2-9: Lucky 13 Band, S. Rososinski - conductor
Tracks 10-12, 14, 24: Tadeusz Wesolowski's Accordions Ensemble
Tracks 18-23: Karol Namyslowski's "Wloscianska " Orchestra

Recorded:

1959-1974, archival recordings from Polskie Nagrania's archives

About:

The mazur and mazurek (i.e. small mazur), or in English mazurka, are general terms for a series of Polish folk dances in triple meter, which originated in the plains of Mazovia around Warsaw. The people of the province were called Mazurs; thus, the dance mazur bears the same name as the male inhabitant of the region. The dances, known abroad as mazurkas, comprise more than one type: mazur or mazurek, the obertas or oberek, and the kujawiak from the neighboring district of Kujawy (see PMC entries on oberek and kujawiak). These dances are linked by common rhythmic and choreographic traits, especially the mazurka rhythm discussed below. The name is much younger than the dance itself, and probably originated outside of the region. This term appears for the first time in J. Riepel's music dictionary published in Germany in 1752. The dance was known as early as the 16th century; early lute and organ tablatures feature many instances of the mazurka rhythm in pieces entitled Polish dance, or in Latin, Chorea polonica. During the 17th century the dance spread over Poland and began to appear also in neighboring countries; distinct versions of these dances could be found in the repertoire of the countryside (the folk mazur-type dances and the mazur of the nobility), and the towns (urban mazurka). Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (1697-1733) was very fond of this dance and introduced it into the courts of Germany. Following Poland's loss of independence, the dance became fashionable in higher social circles in Paris, then London, and other centers of Western Europe. In 1830, the British paper The Observer (25 April 1830) described the mazurka as "just introduced, or intended to be introduced, into this country." In the 1830s and 1840s, the mazurka enjoyed its greatest popularity in the Western salons; along with the krakowiak and the polonaise, it served as a sign of solidarity with the oppressed Polish nation, the cause championed by Polish exiles in Paris and their aristocratic patrons. Paradoxically, after the partitions of Poland, the mazurka also became popular among the Russian aristocracy and peasantry.

An important fact in the history of the mazurka is its appearance in the Polish national anthem. Mazurek D?browskiego (D?browski Mazurka) was created in 1797 as a Song of the Polish Legion for the troops of General Jan D?browski, serving Napoleon during his conquest of Europe with the hope of regaining Poland's independence. The melody of the anthem is of anonymous, folk origin; the text was penned by Józef Wybicki (for more information visit the PMC National Anthems Site). Thus, the fast-paced, energetic dance became a national symbol in several distinct ways.

Mazurs, obereks, and other dances from this group are in triple meter and contain the mazurka rhythms consisting of a pattern of two sixteenths followed by two eighth-notes (in a three-eighths meter), i.e. two short and two long notes. In Polish folk music the basic pattern is derived from 8-, 7- or 6- syllable verses of the mazur folk song; the strophes are structured regularly and consist of four verses set in eight measures of the music. (The pattern of eight measures in three-eighths meter is reproduced on the left, with the beginning of the next system marked at the left, in the third line).

In the music, strong accents are irregularly placed on the second or third beat of the measure. There is also a marked tendency to end the phrase on the dominant pitch located on an unaccented third beat in the measure. The tempi vary greatly between the various types of the dance, and also geographically (the dances are faster in southern Poland than in the northern part of the country). The oberek or obertas is usually the fastest, with MM=160-180; while the regular mazur is performed in the tempo range of MM = 120-40 (the kujawiak is still slower).

The introduction of the mazurka to art music is usually credited to Fryderyk Chopin, though his predecessors included Maria Szymanowska, and others. While Chopin's borrowings from folk, urban, or salon types of the mazurka have been extensively discussed by scholars (e.g. Mieczys?aw Tomaszewski, El?bieta Witkowska, Barbara Milewski), certain melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and formal traits point to their close relationship with the idiosyncratic features of the folk mazur-type dances. Several stylized mazurs of the nobility appear in the stage music of Stanis?aw Moniuszko (operas Halka and Straszny Dwór [The Haunted Manor]). Other Polish composers interested in the mazurka include Aleksander Tansman, Karol Szymanowski, and Roman Maciejewski.

In America, the mazurka (the title was usually in this spelling) appeared in 1840s; salon composers wrote the mazurkas as dances associated with Poland and its celebrated loss of independence, or as fashionable dances dedicated to society ladies. In some variants the mazurka is crossed with the polka - a salon dance, not its folk counterpart. Aleksander Janta lists about 30 mazurkas in his study of nineteenth-century American-Polish music (1982, 128); one publication describes the mazurka as a Russified dance: "The Mazourka is the national dance of Poland, and was introduced into Russia when the Russians subjected Poland. The Russians dance, or rather walk, the Mazourka with a dignified air, but they lack the natural animation and graceful ease adapted by the Poles" (from an 1845 New York edition of A Set of Mazurkas and a Set of Polkas by Coote and Glover).

text courtesy of © the Polish Music Center (USC)